One of the most unpleasant experiences for a person to go through is waking up in a hospital bed. It felt stranger and was certainly more unwelcome than even getting my arm chopped off.

It was bright, and opening my eyes and seeing those lights was a mistake. I nearly screamed in shock. Then I felt somebody’s hand hold mine. At first, I recoiled slightly, but then I relaxed after realising just how smooth this hand was. It better not have been Ethan’s.

‘Don’t worry, it’s only me,’ came a familiar voice.

I spent a few seconds trying to figure out who it was. The voice was feminine, but it certainly wasn’t Natasha’s or Charlotte’s. Or even Heather’s.

‘Emma?’ I said faintly. ‘What are you-’

‘Shh,’ she said softly, and I’m certain she began to stroke my hand with her thumb. ‘Don’t worry about it. Just get your rest.’

‘Yeah,’ came Ethan’s voice. ‘Get your rest, idiot.’

‘You can shut your mouth,’ I said, smirking slightly. ‘You know I heal faster than normal people.’

‘Then why are you still confined to a bed?’ he replied sarcastically, and it was one of those times when I could actually hear the smirk on his face.

‘Everything was dark and then everything was bright,’ I said plainly.

I pictured Emma’s face. I pictured her flowing blonde hair, her warm brown eyes, and her cute little smile. It certainly wouldn’t be the worst sight to wake up to.

I slowly began to sit up. Emma’s grip tightened on my hand.

‘Don’t! You’re still recovering!’

It was weird, to hear her worry. A warm feeling spread throughout my body as she told me to rest, but I didn’t listen. Once I had finished sitting upright, her hand was wrapped so tightly onto mine that one may have thought she was trying to pop it.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly began to open my eyes. And the first thing I noticed was the white bedsheets. Then it all flooded back to me. The reason why I hated hospitals.

The School.

The School was an organisation that had kidnapped both me and Maltor when we were just infants and had kept us for seven years. During that time, they conducted ruthless experiments on the two of us, the main one of which was the human-avian DNA fusions. And that’s why Maltor and I had wings. It’s also, I believed, how Maltor was able to use that dark energy to keep his severed limb under control.

The School had a lot of white rooms like this, too. In fact, Maltor and I had been kept in one. Our cage room was more like an insane asylum, but the complete whiteness still made my breathing shallow.

‘Albert?’ Emma said quietly. ‘You’re shaking. Are you okay?’

This was humiliating. I could barely speak. My throat began to close and I cursed myself. I could never go to a hospital, I knew that. They should’ve just left me to heal on my own.

‘Open your eyes, Albert,’ she tried carefully.

‘I-I can’t,’ I managed. ‘It’s-It’s too much.’

‘Is it too bright?’ came an unfamiliar voice, presumably a doctor or a nurse. ‘We can dim the lights if you-’

‘Hospital,’ I murmured. ‘Get me out. Please.’

‘Pardon?’ said the unfamiliar voice. ‘Are you speaking English, sir?’

I furiously shook my head, trying to find the words.

‘I-I don’t do hospitals,’ I finally said. ‘Please, get me out.’

‘Sir, you’re misunderstanding. You have to-’

‘I don’t have to do anything,’ I said quietly. ‘I’m alr-already healed.’

‘That’s impossible, sir, you can’t be fully healed already,’ the doctor said. ‘You’ll need to be kept here for days at least.’

‘Ethan, Emma,’ I murmured. ‘Is there any steam coming off of me?’

They both confirmed it. I was fully healed.

‘No steam? Then I’m completely fine,’ I retorted, feeling nauseous. ‘Help me get out of here.’

That’s when the hospital made a mistake. I tightened my grip on Emma’s hand and started to pivot my legs around to get out of bed. And the doctor tried to hold me down.

Still with my eyes closed, I brought my left leg around, catching the doctor cleanly in the jaw. My entire body was trembling. I had to leave.

I jumped to my feet and kept my grip tight on Emma’s hand. It was warm and soft. It was unlike any hand I’d ever touched before. It strangely made me feel safer.

‘Please, I can’t be in a hospital,’ I murmured weakly as the three of us rushed through what had to have been a set of double doors. ‘Can’t explain. I just can’t.’

I felt somebody’s body press into my right and then I heard Ethan whisper, ‘Is this cuz of The School?’

My silence must have been enough for an answer because he did not ask any more questions.

‘Sir!’ shouted a voice from far down the corridor. ‘Stop where you are!’

It was then that I noticed the footsteps. It sounded as though people were running toward us from both in front and behind.

‘Emma,’ I murmured. ‘Are there any shadows or dark spots nearby? Ethan, how much time do we have?’

‘Five seconds,’ was Ethan’s quick response. He sounded completely terrified.

‘No,’ said Emma, and my heart dropped. ‘Unless you count ours and the one next to the trolley thing about two feet in front of you on your left.’

That was all I needed to hear. I shot my arm out to the right and grabbed what had to have been Ethan’s arm. I leapt forward, dragging Emma and Ethan along with me.

‘Albert!’ Ethan yelled. ‘The-’

I felt my knee connect with the hard metal of the trolley, which was undoubtedly holding many medical supplies. Instantly, I tightened my gut slightly and pictured the street outside of The Tower.

And within the time it would take to blink, I felt the still air of the hospital disappear, and I felt the cold night air stab into my skin. I could hear cars driving and people talking.

I groggily opened my eyes, and the outside street was a much better welcome than hospital bedsheets. Before I even had a chance to take in my surroundings, Ethan yanked his arm out of my grasp and Emma pulled me inside The Tower.

I wearily walked over to one of the green sofas on my right and slumped down. I didn’t even know the time. It was dark outside, so my best guess would be that it was around ten at night, but I couldn’t be sure.

I stared at Emma as she strode over and sat next to me. Her blonde hair wasn’t as tidy as usual; she looked as though she had run. Her brown eyes glistened under the light, but they seemed frantic and alert.

Ethan, however, masked any worry he had with anger.

‘What was that about?’ he said loudly.

‘You know I can’t do hospitals,’ I replied quietly. ‘I don’t need the treatment anyway.’

‘How do you know?’

Stolen story; please report.

‘How do you not?’

The two of us stared at each other in complete silence for what seemed like an eternity. On the outside, I was trying to pour as much steel into my glare as possible. On the inside, however, I was so close to my limit that I felt as though I were about to shut down.

I had been happy. For the first time in days, I had felt happiness steamroll through every other emotion. I was holding Emma’s hand, Ethan was there, and it was the perfect environment to forget everything. Until I found out that it was a hospital. That had ruined everything.

Even now, my body still felt tingly. I was fidgeting on the sofa, which let Emma and Ethan clearly know that I was still uncomfortable, whether I liked it or not.

But I could not do hospitals. They resembled The School way too closely.

‘How did you even get that injured?’ Emma asked cautiously. ‘When they wheeled you out of school you were smoking and covered in blood.’

It was at that moment that I chose to stare at my feet. Ethan knew for sure. There was only one thing that would make me leave so abruptly.

‘Maltor, right?’ Ethan said, his anger now replaced with a strange, dark tone.

‘I saw him in the sky,’ I murmured. ‘Obviously, he was looking for me. I had a choice: either he found me or I went to him.’

‘And he roughed you up that badly?’ Ethan said, sounding almost appalled.

After remaining silent for a moment, I answered. ‘Yes. I don’t know what it was about him. I got off a few good hits but it was either that or I didn’t faze him at all. I couldn’t hit him.’

‘You did hit him a few times, though, right?’ Emma said, barely louder than a whisper.

‘Yeah, a few times,’ I said. ‘As I said, I either hit him really well or didn’t affect him. I took off his arm.’

‘Yes!’ Ethan yelled, so loudly that it caused the receptionist to look up through her square-framed glasses. ‘Sorry.’

‘What? The hell are you so happy for?’

‘You’re fighting him!’ Ethan said, a huge grin on his face. ‘A few days ago you would never have dreamed of doing that!’

‘Oh, that reminds me,’ I murmured, trying not to groan. ‘I might not have been clear enough earlier. The Gods want us to go and train; that’s what they called me to Olympus for.’

‘You went to Olympus?!’ Emma said loudly.

‘Unfortunately.’

‘What do you mean,’ Ethan asked, cutting his voice down to nearly a whisper. ‘‘They want us to train’?’

‘They said there’s this man called William Johnson, in Switzerland by the way, who they said can help us train to fight ‘properly’,’ I grunted. ‘He’s a son of Titan.’

Ethan’s jaw dropped as Emma leapt to her feet. ‘What?’

‘At first, I didn’t think we should do it,’ I continued. ‘But now that I know what Maltor wants, I don’t think we have much of a choice.’

‘What does he want?’ Ethan snapped.

‘Well, I-’ I started before pausing. ‘I don’t know for certain-’

‘What did he say?’ Ethan said, taking a step forward. He looked almost intimidating.

‘He said everything that Amy said,’ I said, caving in. ‘He said the world is imperfect, and that the weak should fear the strong. He said he wanted to make the world right. Although he didn’t directly say it, I think his goal is the same as Amy’s.’

‘To kill all non-Mutants,’ Ethan and I said together, in completely different tones.

‘When I asked him if that’s what he wanted he got angry and stabbed my neck before disappearing.’

A puzzled look masked Ethan’s face. ‘What happened to him, man?’

‘Getting killed might just affect the way a person thinks,’ I said darkly.

‘That’s not what did it!’ Emma said abruptly. ‘You can’t blame yourself for this! Aiming for genocide just cuz you got killed is a bit far!’

‘Yeah,’ Ethan said, nodding slowly. ‘Amy did something to him.’

‘If you’re suggesting that she cast a spell on him, you’re wrong,’ I reasoned. ‘A spell wears off once the caster is dead.’

I stood up slowly. Both Ethan and Emma flinched.

‘Gods, you look terrifying tonight,’ Ethan whispered. ‘Your eyes are different. They’re not sparkling.’

‘Would you come to Switzerland to train?’ I said quietly. ‘My Aid could take care of things. And if this does escalate- No. Don’t. I’ll go on my own. I can’t expect you to train just to fight him. Forget I said anything.’

‘Are you mad?’ he retorted. ‘If the Gods think I should train, then I have to. They’re the Gods, Albert. They’ve gotta know stuff we don’t.’

‘But school,’ I tried. ‘You’ll have to miss-’

‘I’d rather be alive and missing school,’ he said, smirking. ‘You tell your Aid tomorrow and then we can go on Saturday, yeah?’

‘And if Maltor tries anything whilst your gone we’ve got defence systems ready to go!’ Emma said brightly. ‘About that, how long are you gonna be gone for?’

‘No clue,’ I said, turning to her. ‘I guess whenever this William guy decides that we’re ready to fight.’

Ethan offered his hand for a handshake. ‘And we’ll return more ready than we ever were.’

After pausing for a moment, I grasped his hand tightly. ‘If we must.’

He smirked at me. ‘Come on, man. Let’s show the world not to mess with us.’

***

After a strangely peaceful night, I awoke the next morning to frantic banging on my door. It was as though everybody expected me to be up at a reasonable time.

I called for them to wait a moment before changing into presentable clothes. By presentable clothes, I did not mean formalwear, I meant a white T-Shirt and grey joggers. Judging by how high the sun was, I would be late for school, not that I intended on going anyway. I had to tell my people that I would be leaving.

When I finally opened the door, I found Angela Rees standing there. Angela was another member of my Aid, and she was a daughter of Zeus. She had long black hair that complemented her blue eyes nicely. She wore square-framed glasses and always made sure to wear light makeup wherever she went.

‘What?’ I asked plainly.

Her eyebrows furrowed. ‘You didn’t go to school. So you’re either upset or planning something.’

I stared at her, feigning innocence.

‘Don’t you dare give me that look,’ she said, and she even put her hands on her hips. ‘What are you hiding?’

I still hadn’t formulated exactly how I was going to tell everyone that Ethan and I were planning on just going to Switzerland for an indefinite amount of time. Ethan had said that he would tell our friends at school, so before going to sleep, I had stayed up trying to plan how to at least tell my Aid, who would then, hopefully, tell the rest of the government.

‘I have two things to tell you,’ I said bluntly. ‘And they’re both confidential, for the time being. If I tell you, you must promise to only tell the other Aid members. After you all know, the only other people that can know are the other politicians.’

‘Must be serious, then, yes?’ Angela said. ‘Something good, as well, I hope.’

‘Well…’ I murmured awkwardly. ‘I guess you could say it’s good. One of them at least.’

‘Can I at least sit down? Or are you over-dramatising this?’ she asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Yeah, actually,’ I said quickly. ‘Come in. That should’ve been the first thing I said. Sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise, sir,’ Angela said, stepping inside and beginning to walk towards the sofa. ‘With everything that must be plaguing your mind, it’s no wonder that you forget some of the simple things.’

It irked me that she referred to my mistake as one of the ‘simple things’, but I tried not to let it bother me. I shut the door behind her and then walked into the living room and stood in front of her.

‘Remember, you can only tell the Aid, yes?’ I warned, raising an eyebrow.

‘I assure you, sir, I will only tell the other Aid members,’ she replied, sounding almost bored.

So I broke the news quickly.

‘Maltor accidentally revealed to me what his goal is. Although he did not directly say it, I am certain that he, like Amy, wants to eradicate non-Mutants. He gave numerous clues in our fight and when I asked him, he got angry and stabbed my neck.

‘And, as you know, the Gods pretty much kidnapped me. They told me that Ethan and I have to go to train in Switzerland. Originally, I did not like this idea, and I was quite blunt about my opinion. But now, Ethan and I have decided that due to the weight of Maltor’s goal, the two of us will be leaving for Switzerland tomorrow.’

Angela merely stared at me. She didn’t even frown. In fact, she showed no reaction whatsoever. She accepted this information as though she had been expecting this for days.

‘And I suppose that I cannot stop you, correct?’ she said coldly.

‘You can’t,’ I replied confidently. ‘But I do have to ask, do you know where in Switzerland William Johnson is?’

Angela’s eyes widened and I could tell that she was struggling not to let her jaw drop.

‘How do you know about Johnson?’ she said abruptly. ‘Did the Gods tell you?’

‘That’s who they said Ethan and I should train with, yes,’ I replied nonchalantly. ‘Why?’

‘William Johnson is another son of Titan,’ she said cautiously. ‘He is widely regarded as one of the most skilled demigod fighters alive. It’s considered an honour to even be in his presence.’

‘Well, I’ll make sure to be polite then,’ I said plainly. ‘But, by chance, do you know where he is?’

‘How? Why would they tell you to train with him?’ Angela whispered, ignoring me. ‘Despite his age, he’s still one of the best. Why on Earth would they want you to begin training with him?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said, trying not to sound desperate. ‘You wanna know what else I don’t know? Where he is.’

‘I can’t tell you that,’ Angela said, rising. She was an inch taller than me, but it still wasn’t too intimidating. ‘If I do tell you then it’ll be my fault when you actually go.’

‘Angela, you’re a smart lady, but you’re also mistaken,’ I murmured. ‘You are going to tell me.’

‘Albert, I can’t-’

‘You know, right? So tell me. I said I would protect the city. How on Earth do you expect me to protect everybody if I can’t fight?’

‘What are you going to do if I don’t tell you, sir?’ she asked, and her tone suggested that she truly believed she had won the argument.

‘Well, I have multiple options,’ I said, not breaking eye contact. ‘As Prime Minister of Britain’s largest Mutant organisation, I can come into contact with the Swiss Mutant Government, and find him through them, if he really is as big as you say. And I can fly for hours straight. You really think I wouldn’t fly around an entire country just to spite someone? Or, I can just ask Joseph. Joseph’ll tell me.’

Angela stared at me for a moment. Her face tightened and then she let out a long breath.

'There is a Mutant camp in the Swiss Alps. Like a safe haven. It’s like RoCity but nowhere near as large. I believe it’s about the size of a summer camp. It’s in Piz Vadret. That’s where William Johnson is.’

‘Piz Vadret? Size of a summer camp?’ I repeated. ‘Would you mind giving me your phone?’

Angela rolled her eyes before grudgingly passing me her phone.

Immediately, I opened Google Maps and searched for Piz Vadret. It was quite the distance, but I was certain I could do it.

‘It’s about six-hundred-and-forty miles away,’ I said quietly. ‘If I flew at a comfortable speed then it would take me…about eight and a half hours.’

‘Or you could take a plane,’ Angela sighed.

‘Nah, flying’s more fun,’ I scoffed. ‘Ethan can take a plane if he wants. But me? No thank you.’

‘And you want me to tell the Aid about your plan?’

‘Yes, please, if you wouldn’t mind,’ I said, beaming. ‘I plan to leave at six in the morning, so we get there in the afternoon. I presume a plane flight would be a little more than an hour? So Ethan can leave at about one in the afternoon. It’s a perfect plan.’

‘Sir, please tell me you’re not serious,’ Angela pleaded.

‘I’m more serious than I’ll ever be,’ I replied, still beaming. ‘Thank you for telling me. And can you see if you can get Ethan’s flight sorted?’

‘I can try,’ Angela sighed. ‘Gods, I never should’ve told you where Johnson stays.’